## Facts

- Plaintiffs owned rural residential property in Snohomish County, Washington, including a multi-acre pond fed by springs and associated water rights.
- Defendants owned adjacent land and began operating a rock quarry in 1988.
- Plaintiffs alleged quarry operations discharged silt through a spring system feeding plaintiffs’ pond and a beaver pond connected by surface flow to the Stillaguamish River, impairing water quality and fish raising.
- Plaintiffs also alleged excessive quarry noise and that rocks and other debris sometimes crossed onto their property.
- County and state agencies responded to complaints; the Washington Department of Ecology determined in 1996 that defendants needed an NPDES permit under the Clean Water Act.
- Defendants obtained an NPDES permit but failed to comply fully with its conditions.
- Plaintiffs filed a Clean Water Act citizen suit and Washington state-law claims for trespass and nuisance, then moved for summary judgment on liability.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants violated the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants from a point source to waters of the United States without complying with NPDES permit requirements.
2. Whether silt, rocks, and debris from quarry operations entering plaintiffs’ property established trespass under Washington law.
3. Whether quarry-related siltation, debris, and noise unreasonably interfered with plaintiffs’ use and enjoyment of their property, constituting nuisance under Washington law (including nuisance per se based on statutory violations).

## Decision

- The court granted plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment on liability for the Clean Water Act, trespass, and nuisance claims.
- On the Clean Water Act claim, the court found undisputed evidence of ongoing discharges of silt (a pollutant) from quarry-related conveyances (a point source) into a hydrologically connected water system reaching navigable waters, coupled with permit noncompliance.
- On trespass, the court held that physical invasions of plaintiffs’ land by silt and debris from defendants’ operations satisfied the elements of trespass as a matter of law.
- On nuisance, the court held that the combined impacts of siltation, debris, and excessive noise substantially and unreasonably interfered with plaintiffs’ property use and enjoyment; statutory and regulatory violations supported nuisance liability.
- The order resolved liability only; remedies were left for later proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- A Clean Water Act citizen suit requires proof of ongoing or intermittent violations; continuing discharges and continued permit noncompliance can satisfy this requirement.
- Discharging pollutants from a discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance constitutes a point-source discharge regulated by the Clean Water Act.
- Waters are within federal jurisdiction when a hydrologically connected system (e.g., springs and ponds with surface flow) links the discharge to navigable waters.
- Noncompliance with NPDES permit conditions is itself a Clean Water Act violation.
- Under Washington law, trespass can be established by physical particulates or debris crossing property boundaries when the defendant intentionally performs the act that results in the intrusion or acts negligently.
- Under Washington law, nuisance exists when conduct substantially and unreasonably interferes with another’s use and enjoyment of land; statutory or regulatory violations may support nuisance per se.

## Conclusion

The court held the quarry operators liable on summary judgment for Clean Water Act violations and for trespass and nuisance under Washington law based on ongoing silt and debris intrusions and related interference with plaintiffs’ property, reserving damages and specific relief for later proceedings.


Gill v. LDI, 19 F. Supp. 2d 1188 (W.D. Wash. 1998)